Meteor City Records; ASIN: B00006NSJ6
I’m pretty new to this stoner rock thing. The general idea seems to be rock retro, which usually means borrowing from Black Sabbath. I can get on board with that and Abdullah have some fairly decent Sabbath riffs.
What I don’t like about this album is that it also seems to be a throwback to mid-80’s metal. Now, if mid-80’s metal meant Iron Maiden, I would be happy. If it meant glam, cockless rock, like Warrant, I’d be issuing a Fatwah right now. But the Mid-80’s metal that Abdullah take their inspiration from is somewhere in between. Stuff like, oh, I don’t know, WASP. This music doesn’t offend me, but it doesn’t do anything for me either.
Now, for you legions of WASP fans out there, the question becomes one of execution. Is this a mediocre album, or are Abdullah just playing a genre of music that I consider inherently mediocre? Eh? I guess it’s the middle of the road again. There are some good riffs. The notes are hit, everything is in key and so on. None of the hooks grabbed me, but not many WASP hooks grab me either. I liked Headless Children when it came out, but I was about fourteen. I think fourteen – year – old Erich would have bought this album, but it wouldn’t have been in heavy rotation.
Ruthless Ratings
- Buy it or Burn it: If you miss the 80’s, burn away
- Quantify it: 4